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Officials Rush to Prepare Coastal N.C. for Ophelia
Thrill-seekers lean into the wind while standing on a Wrightsville Beach, N.C., pier in the heavy rain and high wind brought on by Hurricane Ophelia as it closes in on the state.
(By Logan Mock-bunting -- Getty Images)
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"It's not paranoia to be prepared -- it's simple prudence," said FEMA's acting Director R. David Paulison.
The hardy, or foolhardy, ways of North Carolinians inured to hurricanes clearly frustrated state and local officials. They said that on the Outer Banks, unlike the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, the overwhelming majority of residents have vehicles and can leave if they want to.
"The feedback I'm getting is that a large number of vacationers have evacuated," said Dorothy Toolan, spokeswoman for the Department of Emergency Services in Dare County, which includes Hatteras. "When it comes to the locals, everybody just decides what they're personal level of comfort is."
As Ophelia strengthened from a Category 1 to a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 85 mph, it pushed water out of Pamlico Sound into the Neuse and Pamlico rivers, flooding such coastal communities as Engelhard and Washington.
At 11 p.m., Ophelia's center was about 20 miles south-southeast of Cape Lookout and moving northeast about 7 mph toward Cape Hatteras, about 85 miles away.
While high waves crashed into the ocean side of Hatteras, the water level on the bay side was so low that a half-mile of sand was exposed in places that usually are covered, even at low tide. But when the hurricane's 50-mile-wide eye passes through, everybody here knew, all that water would surge back into Pamlico Sound and smash into the island.
"We know there will be flooding. The barrier islands will be getting hammered one way [as the hurricane comes in] and then another way coming out," Easley said.
"We didn't know whether to call for a voluntary evacuation or a mandatory, so we called for a voluntary," Mayor Betty Medlin of Kure Beach, told Reuters. "The way it's getting here . . ., we probably should have had a mandatory."
"It's just sitting there, which makes the wind beat us and be on us longer," Medlin said.
Residents staying put noted, however, that Ophelia was the seventh hurricane and 15th named storm of 2005 alone, and that it did not pack anything like the punch of Katrina, which was a Category 4 hurricane, or Isabel, which began as a Category 5 hurricane and came ashore as a Category 2, walloping the Outer Banks two years ago.
"If it was going to be as bad as Katrina, I would have left," said Cathy Davidson, 44, who was stocking her house with macaroni and cheese, propane gas and bottled water.
"More locals have left than I thought would leave. I guess they're gun-shy after Katrina," said Bagwell, toweling off after his swim. "You can't live on an island and not realize that if she wants to, Mother Nature can reach out and really touch you."
Staff writer Spencer S. Hsu in Washington contributed to this report.
